Right guys, not so long ago I was the newbie and have since then done 7 "beer kits" and learnt a fair bit... I would like to try and share my experiences and what happened when things seemed to of gone wrong.
1st thing is sterelising. I was quite worried a bit of stereliser would get in the brew. However from experience now I know as long as equipment is thoroughly washed and swilled out a few times it wont matter if the tinyest speckle of sterelizer gets in your brew since the volume of liquid in your brew will be more than enough to disolve that tiny bit into nothing.
If you brew numerous times you may still be able to smell a hint of sour apple in your barrel after sterelizing.. but again it seems as long as the above step has been done it wont effect your brew.
Now onto making the brew kit in your FV...
It doesnt matter what way you do it.. weather its put in malt extract, add a bit of kettle water and mix it in or fill the whole thing up to the 40 pint level and then mix it in... it will work fine both ways...
1 thing to bear in mind is that the "yeast cake" and sediment will take some capacity in the FV (which obviously does not go into the barrel) and of course samples for the hydrometer will take some more away. So from my 3rd brew onwards I topped it up to a bit more than 40 pints. It may of given a slightly less alcoholic drink (by .01 or .02%) but for my time and effort I deserve to have the full amount of pints out of it.
For the hydrometer readings it was always good to get it down to about 1010, potentially as long as the airlock is bubbling from about 12 hours after putting the mix in the FV you could just wait 10 days, not do a reading and transfer to barrel which will more than likely give just as good results.
when transfering from fv to barrel I had a few experiences I thought would be a failure.
1 was where there was too much splashing, 1/4 of the barrel was full of bubbles. It took longer to settle, but overall it made a really nice pint when it was ready regardless... although its recomended to pour it down the sides to reduce bubbles.
I used the non auto syphon and at 1st sucked the end to start it but then found something at home that works like a fan but in reverse which after it started it.
1 problem with this was it would stop when the barrels only 3/4 full and not start again. Twice I had gone through a method of using a pint glass to scoop up the rest of the beer and pour it into the barrel. I avoided any sediment (and the big yeast cake at the bottom) and on both occasions it gave normal results and didnt ruin the beer.
Some people have mentioned about their barrels exploding... However I have never had mine explode. I think the main thing to look out for is if there is any damage to the barrel before moving the beer there and if you have had more than 3 brews in the same barrel which have been fine then its likely you wont have that problem. I have always made sure my barrel was 95% full as well which didnt cause it to explode.
The temperature I have always kept my brew at while fermenting and when its in the barrel has been around 20c which has always given positive results. This could also be another factor in weather the barrel will explode or not. If you keep it at exactly the same temperature throughout then it will be fine... if the temperature increases or drops by 10 or so degrees then I think that could increase the chance of it exploding.
As for adding "beer enhancer" instead of sugar... I have always done this. Some people add it to the barrel before adding the beer... some add it after... I have done it both ways and it makes no difference IMO. I have always added 1/4 of a kilo to the fv originally and then 1/4 to the barrel.
So far have brewed:
woodfordes wherry (x2)
admirals reserve (x2)
geordie scottish bitter (x2)
santas winter warmer (x1)
All of turned out to be really nice brews which have gone too quick.
With all the methods I have used the worst than has happened on 2 occasions is the brew has been 1/2 a % lower than the % its meant to be.. but the rest of the time it has always been about spot on and friends and family who have tried it have wanted me to send them a few bottles of my next brew or actually went and bought a beer kit + equipment
Always use a turkey baster to get samples of the brew for hydrometer readings and make sure you taste the beer each time you take the sample (never put it back in), if the beer tastes remotely alcoholic then your doing something right!!!
1st thing is sterelising. I was quite worried a bit of stereliser would get in the brew. However from experience now I know as long as equipment is thoroughly washed and swilled out a few times it wont matter if the tinyest speckle of sterelizer gets in your brew since the volume of liquid in your brew will be more than enough to disolve that tiny bit into nothing.
If you brew numerous times you may still be able to smell a hint of sour apple in your barrel after sterelizing.. but again it seems as long as the above step has been done it wont effect your brew.
Now onto making the brew kit in your FV...
It doesnt matter what way you do it.. weather its put in malt extract, add a bit of kettle water and mix it in or fill the whole thing up to the 40 pint level and then mix it in... it will work fine both ways...
1 thing to bear in mind is that the "yeast cake" and sediment will take some capacity in the FV (which obviously does not go into the barrel) and of course samples for the hydrometer will take some more away. So from my 3rd brew onwards I topped it up to a bit more than 40 pints. It may of given a slightly less alcoholic drink (by .01 or .02%) but for my time and effort I deserve to have the full amount of pints out of it.
For the hydrometer readings it was always good to get it down to about 1010, potentially as long as the airlock is bubbling from about 12 hours after putting the mix in the FV you could just wait 10 days, not do a reading and transfer to barrel which will more than likely give just as good results.
when transfering from fv to barrel I had a few experiences I thought would be a failure.
1 was where there was too much splashing, 1/4 of the barrel was full of bubbles. It took longer to settle, but overall it made a really nice pint when it was ready regardless... although its recomended to pour it down the sides to reduce bubbles.
I used the non auto syphon and at 1st sucked the end to start it but then found something at home that works like a fan but in reverse which after it started it.
1 problem with this was it would stop when the barrels only 3/4 full and not start again. Twice I had gone through a method of using a pint glass to scoop up the rest of the beer and pour it into the barrel. I avoided any sediment (and the big yeast cake at the bottom) and on both occasions it gave normal results and didnt ruin the beer.
Some people have mentioned about their barrels exploding... However I have never had mine explode. I think the main thing to look out for is if there is any damage to the barrel before moving the beer there and if you have had more than 3 brews in the same barrel which have been fine then its likely you wont have that problem. I have always made sure my barrel was 95% full as well which didnt cause it to explode.
The temperature I have always kept my brew at while fermenting and when its in the barrel has been around 20c which has always given positive results. This could also be another factor in weather the barrel will explode or not. If you keep it at exactly the same temperature throughout then it will be fine... if the temperature increases or drops by 10 or so degrees then I think that could increase the chance of it exploding.
As for adding "beer enhancer" instead of sugar... I have always done this. Some people add it to the barrel before adding the beer... some add it after... I have done it both ways and it makes no difference IMO. I have always added 1/4 of a kilo to the fv originally and then 1/4 to the barrel.
So far have brewed:
woodfordes wherry (x2)
admirals reserve (x2)
geordie scottish bitter (x2)
santas winter warmer (x1)
All of turned out to be really nice brews which have gone too quick.
With all the methods I have used the worst than has happened on 2 occasions is the brew has been 1/2 a % lower than the % its meant to be.. but the rest of the time it has always been about spot on and friends and family who have tried it have wanted me to send them a few bottles of my next brew or actually went and bought a beer kit + equipment
Always use a turkey baster to get samples of the brew for hydrometer readings and make sure you taste the beer each time you take the sample (never put it back in), if the beer tastes remotely alcoholic then your doing something right!!!
